


The Pit

by stevegallacci



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:54:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23997088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stevegallacci/pseuds/stevegallacci
Summary: Yet another version of what might have happened if Bellwether had caught the blueberry switch.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 51





	The Pit

The twap of the blueberry was a lot sharper than Nick expected, but no matter. The fix was in, and that maniac Bellwether was bound to monolog her whole scheme. All they needed was a few good lines for her to hang herself. 

Then Nick noticed an unfamiliar smell, and made a little covert swipe at the splat on his neck. Oh glob, that wasn't blueberry! And he was tasting DMSO, made sense as a penetrating solvent and vehicle for the serum. But he had to keep to the act, at least ... at least....

And where was the fox? This dusty, musty place? There was a food in here with it, and blood. But that wasn't important. The fox felt trapped and ran around the edge of the hole. No obvious way out. There were threats up and outside, and the fox felt menace and anger towards them. But the fox couldn't get at them either. 

The food in there with it was making social sounds. Why was that? The fox took a moment to examine the food. It was an easy food, but it didn't act like food, and it kept making those social sounds. The fox felt like such should mean something. The food was already bleeding, and the fox could scent the fear in it. But the fox could scent other things, social things, and fox on the food, on the female food. 

The fox shied away to the opposite end of the hole, still looking for any possible exit. The female food was too confusing to deal with at the moment. The fox needed out. And there was the matter of the strange threat above. 

Then there were new scary things, bigger threats above. The fox became a bit frantic, trapped in a hole with such big and threatening things. And the female food still making social noises. In near panic, the fox went to the female food, and hesitated further. It was more than female food; there was something else to it, something familiar. 

In an instant, the fox recognized Her. It couldn't be, it was just female food, but it was also Her. The fox was so confused and he hopped from foot to foot, wanting to approach, fearful of the wrong, and all too aware of the external threat. Then a sharp twinge in his back, and an unnatural sleep took him.

00000

Judy was on crutches, insisting on such instead of a wheelchair to get used to them for the while it would take for her leg to heal up. For now, she was getting a bit of a briefing from Detective Post and Doctor Mumbai about the Night Howler case and Nick's condition. 

"When we squeezed Doug a bit further, he confessed that he'd gotten the formula from a less than ethical research study by a now defunct pharmaceutical firm. They had found a range of reactions from extracts of the plant, the savage serum was one of them."

"Yes, it provokes a persistent psychotic rage, the atavistic animalistic behavior was more of a side effect. They aren't really wild in the normal sense; the behavior is too intensely and persistently violent. Normal relaxation or social behavior is entirely absent."

"But there where batches that tried some variations of the formula to economize the process."

"One only caused a hallucinogenic high. It wasn't until we got this information that we were able to diagnose the couple of victims we've found so far."

"Doug claims he only did a couple as it was clear that they were not going to do anything but look at the pretty pictures in their heads."

"The other type that was actually made and used didn't have the savage rage, but did revert the victim to a somewhat instinctual wild state."

"Doug claims he shot five, and Wilde became the sixth. He said he assumed that they were going savage, but that they had an initial flight response. That there was no news of any subsequent incidents with the victims was a puzzler, but he wasn't worried, as he assumed it was only a matter of time."

"That reaction also caught us off guard, as they were dropping out of sight, a new missing mammal thing, and we were beginning to worry about a new attempt to contain the situation like Lionheart was doing. Then we got one as a pedestrian/vehicle victim and a couple sightings and complaints of 'wild animals' prowling around."

"That is the sort of good news/bad news part of this version of the chemistry. It does truly revert the victim to an approximation of an instinctual wild state. As we have only the one sample, working up an analysis will be tricky. Doug claimed all the working notes were lost in the train crash."

"Since we have had more time with the earlier victims, and now with the clue of which toxics to look for, we're hopeful that those subjects will be treatable in a timely manner." 

"But as the new version is a different chemistry, as the reaction demonstrates, we will likely need a different treatment regimen." The Doctor made a face, "And we don't yet know how much of a recovery we can expect." 

"So you don't know if you can get N - Mr. Wilde back?" Judy gulped. 

The Doctor shrugged. "This is new to us, and involves some subtle brain chemistry. We'll have to see. The one bit of good news is that Wilde is calm and reacting as well as can be expected, given the circumstances."

He motioned to a door. "He's just inside there, in an isolation room, like you saw earlier with the original savage victims. Doesn't need any kind of restraints and is reacting well to folks entering the viewing area. You can go in alone."

And there was an empty containment room, a pile of blankets for a sleeping area and a shallow bin filled with gravel for - . But what froze Judy was Nick, naked, sitting at the far side of the room, licking himself. Judy had to laugh.

"Oh Nick, you're so lucky I'm not going to get my 'phone out." Mystic Springs had become something of a little joke between them, as Judy wasn't so adverse to practical nudity, just not ready or reacted well to the totally unexpected and all too public aspect. 

The fox heard a voice, it was Her again, and he wagged his tail as he cautiously trotted up to the bothersome wall he could not properly see. The fox sniffed through the little holes, yes it was Her. The fox sat down and pawed at the mystery wall, giving Her a little happy whine. 

"Oh Nick, you are such a cute puppy of a thing now." Judy eased herself down to sit, leaning against the transparency, the one leg still hurt something fierce, sticking her paw up to one of the vent holes. Nick sniffed it then leaned into the clear wall that separated them. "What am I going to do with you?" 

What was she going to do? While Bogo promised re-instatement in the ZPD, in part to protect her in the investigation leading up to Bellwether's arrest, her injuries would take a while to for recovery. But she couldn't stay in hospital for much longer. Her family was clamoring to come and fetch her back to Bunnyburrow, but that was the last thing she wanted to do at the moment. Not and leave poor Nick in his current state.

She was not scheduled to be discharged from the Hospital just yet; her adventure had left her with more injuries than the obvious bad gash in her leg. Sprains and strains and a little concern about the sometimes-serious rabbity reaction to trauma had her under observation so far. But that wasn't going to last. 

So what to do about that?

At the moment, she had nowhere to go, nowhere to stay. She'd given up her apartment when she left the city a month before and she was pretty much broke now. As she prided herself on her self-sufficiency, she didn't want to ask anyone for help, but at the same times, didn't really have anyone, outside of her family, that she could ask. *

"You've got it easy in there, Nick. So much better than hiding under that bridge. Though Finn told me you do at least did have a little rat hole of an apartment somewhere." 

She sighed, puffing a bit of breath in the vent holes. Nick enthusiastically snuffled at that and tried to lick her through the perforation. She put her paw in and was able to get the tiniest lick, which seemed to delight the Fox. 

Just then someone entered her side of the room, an Antelope in a lab coat. 

"Hello there Ms. Hopps. And how is our favorite fox today?"

Nick shied back just a bit and Judy did a quick tactical assessment, not knowing the stranger. Given the twists in the Bellwether case, she was extra alert to anything untoward. 

Noticing the reaction, the Beast explained. "I'm Dr. Thompson, one of the behaviorists, come to observe Mr. Wilde." He kept well away to demonstrate his harmlessness. "His condition can give us some insight into pre-civilized or even pre-sentient behavior. True, we have to keep in mind that much of how he reacts may be more a matter of drugs than instinct, but he and the other recent victims are giving us at least a hint at some basic behavior that we've only speculated at before."

The Doctor smiled a bit as he watched Nick's reaction to his presence and how he kept close to Judy. Even with the barrier between them, Nick was warily trying to establish a protective posture for her. He had been monitoring Nick since he arrived and found his behavior fascinating, especially after the irrationally violent performance of the earlier victims. 

Poor souls. Some had needed to be sedated as they were doing themselves injury as they flailed against restraints or the enclosures. And the toll to friends and family when they were witness to such was its own tragedy. 

That was the one heartening thing about the newer wild victims, especially among well-mated couples. Like Nick and Judy (and the notion of a rabbit and fox having a relationship needed its own study), the wild half of the pair would attempt some manner of positive social reaction. The strongest, and most tragic, was a Young Ocelot Mother who was introduced to her kittens and became frantic in her effort to make contact. 

"Ms. Hopps, can I ask about your relationship with Mr. Wilde?"

"Sure, I guess?"

"His response to you is as that of a strong pair bond." The Doctor was clearly aware of the potentially personal question. "And?"

"Oh." Judy blushed at that. "It's kind of weird. Nick and I went through some rather harrowing situations, so, I guess, it started off as comrades in adversity kind of thing." Judy collected herself a bit more. "But we supported each other in turn, ya know. And we got to be fast friends." Judy wrung her paws. "But pair bond? That's a bit much, you think?"

"Well, I can only call it as I see it." The Doctor made a note. "I see you are about ready to be discharged, but can you be available for more interaction with Mr. Wilde?" 

Judy made a face. "I'm kind of between anything at the moment. I was staying with my folks back in Bunnyburrow and only came to the city to solve the case." 

The Doctor nodded. "We have some lodging here, normally for visiting families of patients. Your Chief of Police hinted that, if necessary, we could offer such to you."

"I guess that'd be fine for now." And Judy gestured to her leg. "That would also make my Doctors a bit happier too. They didn't want me discharged too early, lest..." She trailed off. She was reluctant to acknowledge she was not as fit as she wanted to project. Her family would throw a fit over her staying, of course. 

They'd be worried that she was more injured than she had told them and would be on the next train into the city to catch her on her deathbed before she passed. And the last thing she'd tell them was that she was doing it in part for Nick's sake. 

And how was she going to explain Nick? 

They'd seen the media reports, and she had given them a rather limited additional account of their adventures, but nothing to hint that he was now a close friend, even less any kind of pair bond. 

And about that. It didn't seem possible that her Nick, not the drug addled pup before her now, would be so infatuated with her? 

Dr. Thompson made some additional notes. "I would like to set up a constant video record of Mr. Wilde's behavior, especially his interactions with you, but I thought I'd better ask you first."

Judy grimaced at that. "I have to admit to being a bit ambivalent about being recorded, but, for science..." She glanced over to her Fox, who had his head cocked, clearly trying to understand what was going on. "But poor Nick, when he recovers he'd be mortified if he finds out about all of this." 

The Antelope chuckled at that. "No. It isn't like any of this will be on EweTube. There are a few academics who'd want to study all this, but do appreciate both your privacy concerns and the larger social implications of it. Especially after this whole Bellwether fiasco." The last said in obvious bitterness. 

Judy flinched at that and the Doctor noticed. 

"Yeah, the backlash is almost as bad as the initial pred thing." And he gestured with his hooves. "Now every Ungulate is getting the side eye and anyone who even looks like an Ovis is under suspicion." 

At that Judy more obviously cringed. "Oh no. Sure, her plot appeared to only involve some Aris, family connections and the like, but to target the whole Genus like that is beyond - ." And she groaned, putting her face to her paws. 

It was the unfair focus on a class or species all over again. That became her angry sole subject of concentration for a good part of the day. She had been helpful and informative with Dr. Thompson in a somewhat distracted fashion and he had been perceptive enough to recognize her state. After he left, making arrangements for further observations and interviews, Judy began composing things to say to hopefully help de-escalate this new round of inter-species tension. 

As the "Savor of Zootopia", she had the collective media at her beck and call, if she wanted to exploit that. But after the initial predator news fiasco, she was more than a little camera shy. Thank goodness the Hospital had been a refuge from the media weasels, and ferrets, and - yeah, all of them. 

But now she had time to really consider what needed to be said, and how to say it in the most effective fashion. Her little talk with Bogo after her rescue made it clear that she had the full support of the ZPD, so they might well be of assistance in composing a message. But in the end, it had to be her words, her sincere plea for everyone to try to make the world a better place. 

She was a clever bunny, and would think of something.

*I'm not including the Mr. Big scene in these versions of the story, so he isn't a factor.


End file.
